Blinded By The Light

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Track 1 of Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J., 1973.

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Credits

• Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973)
  • Bruce Springsteen: vocals, electric guitar, electric bass, keyboards
  • Clarence Clemons: saxophone, backing vocals
  • Vini Lopez: drums, backing vocals
  • Harold Wheeler: piano

Performances

Performed live 82 times (not including snippet performances). 2024-09-15 Beach, Surf Stage, Asbury Park, NJ 2022-04-06 Stone Hill Farm, Colts Neck, NJ 2017-02-11 Hanging Rock, Mt. Macedon, Victoria, Australia 2016-09-14 Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA 2016-08-30 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ 2016-06-22 Telia Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark 2016-04-25 Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY 2014-04-15 Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH 2013-05-08 HK Areena, Turku, Finland 2013-03-16 Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 2012-09-14 Nationals Park, Washington, DC 2012-07-31 Olympiastadion, Helsinki, Finland 2009-11-22 HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY 2009-05-18 Verizon Center, Washington, DC 2008-07-31 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ 2008-06-29 Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark 2008-06-14 Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales 2008-04-25 Philips Arena, Atlanta, GA 2006-11-21 Odyssey Arena, Belfast, Northern Ireland 2006-11-19 Point Theatre (The), Dublin, Ireland 2006-11-17 Point Theatre (The), Dublin, Ireland 2006-11-14 Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield, England 2006-11-12 Wembley Arena, London, England 2006-11-11 Wembley Arena, London, England 2006-11-09 NEC Arena, Birmingham, England 2006-11-07 Sportpaleis, Antwerp, Belgium 2005-11-11 Ted Constant Convocation Center, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 2005-11-04 St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL 2005-10-15 Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Alliant Energy Center, Madison, WI 2005-08-13 Pontiac Theatre At GM Place, Vancouver, BC 2005-07-24 Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, NC 2005-06-25 Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden 2005-04-04 Joan And Robert Rechnitz Theater, Red Bank, NJ 2003-08-06 PNC Park, Pittsburgh, PA 2003-03-11 Blue Cross Arena At The War Memorial, Rochester, NY 2003-02-20 Somerville Theatre, Somerville, MA 2001-08-18 Waterfront, Asbury Park, NJ 2000-06-27 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY 1999-11-15 Gund Arena, Cleveland, OH 1999-10-28 Oakland Arena, Oakland, CA 1999-10-23 Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA 1999-09-24 First Union Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA 1997-02-16 Palais Theatre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia 1997-02-11 Capitol Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 1997-02-10 Capitol Theatre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 1996-11-24 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ 1996-10-29 Paramount Theatre, Seattle, WA 1996-04-27 Royal Albert Hall, London, England 1996-04-22 Royal Albert Hall, London, England 1995-12-09 Tower Theater, Upper Darby, Philadelphia, PA 1993-06-26 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY 1993-03-23 Count Basie Theatre, Red Bank, NJ 1976-04-12 Cambria County War Memorial Arena, Johnstown, PA 1976-04-09 Reid Athletic Center, Colgate University, Hamilton, NY 1976-04-07 Allen Theatre, Cleveland, OH 1976-03-28 Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke University, Durham, NC 1976-03-26 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA 1974-04-28 Scott Amphitheater, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA 1974-04-06 Burlington County College, Pemberton, NJ 1974-03-15 Armadillo World Headquarters, Austin, TX 1974-03-09 Liberty Hall, Houston, TX (Late) 1974-03-03 Gaston Hall, Georgetown University, Washington, DC (Early) 1974-02-12 Student Center Ballroom, University Of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 1974-02-01 Allen Theatre, Cleveland, OH 1974-01-29 Muther's Music Emporium, Nashville, TN 1974-01-25 Mosque (The), Richmond, VA 1974-01-12 Joint In The Woods (The), Parsippany, NJ 1974-01-06 Joe's Place, Cambridge, MA 1973-10-31 Main Point (The), Bryn Mawr, PA (Late) 1973-10-30 Main Point (The), Bryn Mawr, PA (Late) 1973-10-26 Geneva Theatre, Geneva, NY 1973-10-20 Franklin Pierce College, Rindge, NH 1973-06-22 Fat City, Seaside Heights, NJ 1973-06-14 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY 1973-04-28 Cole Field House, University Of Maryland, College Park, MD 1973-04-18 Gymnasium, Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, NJ 1973-03-02 Berkeley Community Theatre, Berkeley, CA 1973-02-14 VCU New Gym, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA 1973-02-11 Bishop Dougherty Student Center, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ 1973-02-01 Max's Kansas City, New York City, NY (Early) 1973-01-09 WBCN Studio, Boston, MA 1972-12-07 Kenny's Castaways, New York City, NY (Early)

Performances broken down by tour (not including rehearsals and snippet performances) Performed at 1 show(s) of 130 on the 2023-25 International Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 266 on the Springsteen On Broadway run. Performed at 1 show(s) of 14 on the Summer '17 Tour. Performed at 4 show(s) of 75 on the The River Tour 2016. Performed at 1 show(s) of 33 on the High Hopes Tour. Performed at 4 show(s) of 133 on the Wrecking Ball Tour. Performed at 2 show(s) of 83 on the Working On A Dream Tour. Performed at 4 show(s) of 99 on the Magic Tour. Performed at 8 show(s) of 56 on The Seeger Sessions Tour. Performed at 6 show(s) of 72 on the Devils & Dust Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 7 on the Vote For Change Tour. Performed at 2 show(s) of 120 on The Rising Tour. Performed at 5 show(s) of 132 on The Reunion Tour. Performed at 8 show(s) of 128 on The Ghost Of Tom Joad Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 102 on the World Tour 1992-93. Performed at 0 show(s) of 20 on the Human Rights Now! Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 67 on the Tunnel Of Love Express Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 156 on the Born In The U.S.A. Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 138 on The River Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 111 on the Darkness On The Edge Of Town Tour. Performed at 0 show(s) of 54 on The Lawsuit Tour. Performed at 5 show(s) of 116 on the Born To Run Tour. Performed at 15 show(s) of 201 on The Wild, The Innocent & The E Street Shuffle Tour. Performed at 9 show(s) of 166 on the Greetings From Asbury Park Tour. Performed at 7 known other show(s), plus 0 public tour rehearsal(s).

Snippets

^{Performed live 1 times as a snippet.}

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• 2022-10-31 SiriusXM Studio, New York City, NY

Released on Album

Released on Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. (1973), Blinded By The Light (Single, 1973), The Essential (2003), and Blinded By The Light (Soundtrack, 2019).

A live version is released on Live In Dublin (2007) (recorded November 19, 2006).

Released as Live Download

Live versions are available on the following 14 official live downloads:

• 2024-09-15 Beach, Surf Stage, Asbury Park, NJ
• 2017-02-11 Hanging Rock, Mt. Macedon, Victoria, Australia
• 2016-09-14 Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
• 2016-08-30 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
• 2016-06-22 Telia Parken, Copenhagen, Denmark
• 2016-04-25 Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
• 2014-04-15 Nationwide Arena, Columbus, OH
• 2009-11-22 HSBC Arena, Buffalo, NY
• 2006-11-11 Wembley Arena, London, England
• 2005-06-25 Hovet, Stockholm, Sweden
• 2000-06-27 Madison Square Garden, New York City, NY
• 1999-10-23 Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
• 1996-11-24 Paramount Theatre, Asbury Park, NJ
• 1995-12-09 Tower Theater, Upper Darby, Philadelphia, PA

One of these recordings is also available on the playlists The Live Series: Songs Of Summer (2020) and The Live Series: Songs Of Introspection (2023).

On The Tracks

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - V1a	5:03	GREETINGS / ESSENTIAL: 2003 / GREATEST: 2009
BLINDED BY THE LIGHT - V1b	3:58	1973 Single

Note: According to Springsteen in Songs, both "Blinded By The Light" and "Spirit In The Night" were written to order after Clive Davis told him in mid-August 1972, there was nothing on Greetings From Asbury Park, N.J. which could get radio play. Bruce's response was to go home with a rhyming dictionary, which is what he used to write "Madman’s Bummers", which he changed to "Blinded By the Light", and without delay, "Spirit In The Night" and "Blinded By The Light" were both recorded on September 11, 1972.

After the Greetings sessions were completed, and the master submitted on August 10, most of the not-yet-called The E Street Band had dispersed to other obligations; David Sancious and Danny Federici were in Virginia, and Miami Steve was playing with the Dovells. Bruce found his drummer, Vini "Mad Dog" Lopez, special guest star Clarence Clemons, who had not played in the June sessions, and Harold Wheeler to play piano; he played the rest of the instruments. It is not known how many takes were needed to finish "Blinded By The Light", but it was completed in one day. Before it was released as a single on February 23, 1973, coupled with "The Angel", the engineers at Columbia edited out a verse, reducing the time below four minutes. It was given an extremely limited commercial release in the United States. The lyrics on the back of the 7" picture sleeve are also missing a verse. A stereo fold down mono version is available as the b-side of the white label promo 45.

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^{Studio Sessions: Greetings From Asbury Park}

Lyrics

Blinded By The Light

Madman drummers bummers and Indians in the summer with a teenage diplomat
In the dumps with the mumps as the adolescent pumps his way into his hat
With a boulder on my shoulder, feelin' kinda older I tripped the merry-go-round
With this very unpleasing sneezing and wheezing the calliope crashed to the ground
Some all-hot half-shot was headin' for a hot spot snappin' his fingers clappin' his hands
And some fleshpot mascot was tied into a lover's knot with a whatnot in her hand
And now young Scott with a slingshot finally found a tender spot and throws his lover in the sand
And some bloodshot forget-me-not whispers, "Daddy's within earshot, save the buckshot, turn up the band"

And she was blinded by the light
Oh, cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
She got down but she never got tight, but she'll make it alright

Some brimstone baritone anti-cyclone rolling stone preacher from the east
He says, "Dethrone the dictaphone, hit it in its funny bone, that's where they expect it least"
And some new-mown chaperone was standin' in the corner all alone watchin' the young girls dance
And some fresh-sown moonstone was messin' with his frozen zone to remind him of the feeling of romance

Yeah, he was blinded by the light
Oh, cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
He got down but he never got tight, but he's gonna make it tonight

Some silicone sister with her manager's mister told me I got what it takes
She said, "I'll turn you on sonny, to something strong if you'll play that song with the funky break"
And Go-cart Mozart was checkin' out the weather chart to see if it was safe to go outside
And little Early-Pearly came by in her curly-wurly and asked me if I needed a ride
Oh, some hazard from Harvard was skunked on beer playin' backyard bombardier
Yes and Scotland Yard was trying hard, they sent a dude with a calling card who said, "Do what you like, but don't do it here"
Well, I jumped up, turned around, spit in the air, fell on the ground
Asked him which was the way back home
He said, "Take a right at the light, keep goin' straight until night, and then, boys, you're on your own"

And now in Zanzibar a shootin' star was ridin' in a side car hummin' a lunar tune
Yes, and the avatar said, "Blow the bar but first remove the cookie jar we're gonna teach those boys to laugh too soon"
And some kidnapped handicap was complainin' that he caught the clap from some mousetrap he bought last night
Well I unsnapped his skull cap, between his ears I saw a gap and figured he'd be all right

He was just blinded by the light
Cut loose like a deuce another runner in the night
Blinded by the light
Mama always told me not to look into the sights of the sun
Whoa, but mama that's where the fun is
Ooh, yeah
(I was blinded) Oh my my, oh my my
(I was blinded) Oh my my
(I was blinded) I was blinded by the light
(I was blinded) I was blinded by the light
(I was blinded) I was blinded by the light
(I was blinded) I was blinded by the light
(I was blinded) I was blinded
(I was blinded)
(I was blinded)

Visit SpringsteenLyrics.com for other versions of this song.

Media

Gallery

^{Graph accurate to the end of the Wrecking Ball Tour, December 2012.}

Links

• MusicBrainz

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